1880 -1910 · Bath, mirror, caress and daily life

For Cassatt, motherhood is neither a sweet allegory nor a spectacle: it is built in the precise gestures of bathing, support, play and mutual attention.

Mary Cassatt did not have children, but she observed with great rigor the relationships between mothers, nannies and children around her. From the 1880s, this theme became a lasting formal laboratory. The Child's Bath adopts a plunging point of view that brings the two heads together and transforms the bowl, legs and striped fabrics into interlocking circles. The Child's Toilet emphasizes concrete hand coordination. Mother and Child, says The Oval Mirror, associates the reflection with a tradition of the Virgin and Child while maintaining a modern interior. Mother and Child, says The Oval Mirror, associates the reflection with a tradition of the Virgin and Child while maintaining a modern interior. Mother and Child, known as The Oval Mirror, associates the reflection with a tradition of the Virgin and Child while maintaining a modern interior. Mother and Child, known as The Oval Mirror, associates the reflection with a tradition of the Virgin and Child while maintaining a modern interior. Mother and Child, known as The Oval Mirror, associates the reflection with a tradition of the Virgin and Child while maintaining a modern interior. Mother and Child, known as The Oval Mirror, associates the reflection with a tradition of the Virgin and Child while maintaining a modern interior. Mother and Child, says oil, pastel, drypoint and color aquatint. Japanese prints teach him to tilt the plane, reduce the depth and let the textile pattern lead the gaze. Children are not idealized: they move, tire, lean or turn their heads. Adults do not play an abstract role; they wash, carry and reassure. Cassatt's reputation has sometimes locked his work into sentimental imagery. However, the repetition of the theme above all reveals a demanding research on two bodies which negotiate weight, balance and affection in the same space. However, the repetition of the theme reveals above all a demanding research on two bodies which negotiate weight, balance and affection in the same space. However, the repetition of the theme reveals above all a demanding research on two bodies which negotiate weight, balance and affection in the same space. However, the repetition of the theme reveals above all a demanding research on two bodies which negotiate weight, balance and affection in the same space. However, the repetition of the theme reveals above all a demanding research on two bodies which negotiate weight, balance and affection in the same space. However, the repetition of the theme reveals, above all, a demanding research on two bodies which negotiate weight, balance and affection in the same space. However, the repetition of the theme reveals above all a demanding research on Child's toilet. His reading favors the story.

Cassatt's tenderness comes from accuracy: a hand truly supports the child's weight, a look responds, a body resists or abandons itself.